Road construction



Jan. 8, 1935. c. H. DILL 1,987,392

ROAD CONSTRUCTION I Filed Aug. 1, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 dug-J JIKNVENTORI C. H. DILL ROAD CONSTRUCTION Jan. 8, 1935.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 1, 1929 Patented Jan. 8, 1935 UNITED STATESPATENT; OFFICE man CONSTRUCTION Charles H. mu, Mount Lebanon, Pa.

Application Augnstl, 1929, Serial No. 382,726

19 Claims.

5 dividing plate construction.

It is common in the road making art to build roads having dividingplates embedded therein and extending longitudinally thereof to dividethe I road material into at leastpartially segregated masses whereby toeliminate to a considerable extent the danger of undesired cracking ofthe road surface due to expansion and contraction thereof under changesin temperature. Such dividing plates ordinarily comprise a substantiallyvertically extending portion for dividing up the mass of road materialand a substantially channel-shaped'portion for providing a tongue andgroove construction in the road whereby the two sides of the roadinterlock in the vertical direction. Such interlocking assists inpreventing one side of the road from rising above the other side due tounequal temperature conditions or due to any diflerence which may existin the construction of the road.

Dowel bars are used in conjunction with the dividing plates to jointogether the portions of the road on opposite sides of the plateswhereby to prevent such oppositely disposed portions from spreadingapart. Therefore, by the provision of the "tongue and groove"construction in conjunction with transversely extending dowel bars, theoppositely disposed road portions are prevented from relative movementeither horizontally or vertically.

It has become the general practice in road building toconstruct a roadin halves in order to permit tramc to move over one half of the roadwhile the other half is under construction. When this method is followedone side of the road is ordinarily completed before the other side iscommenced and there is consequently considerable diillculty in joiningthe two opposite sides by means of dowel bars. It is necessary to embedone half of a dowel bar in the first half of the road to be built and topermit the other half of the dowel bar to extend out laterally from thefirst half of the road toward the second half. Due to 4 the fact thattraillc is moving on the second half immediately beside the first half,some provision has to be made for disposing of the protruding portionofthe dowel bar. This has heretofore been done in various ways, as bybending it straight up in theairor by bending i't lengthwise of the roadagainst the road form. The former method is unsatisfactory because ofthe danger occasioned by reason of the dowel bar extending straight upin the middle of the road, and'the latter is very unsatisfactory becauseafter the road material is poured and hardens and the form is removed,it is necessary to pull the second half of the dowel bar out of thehardened road material, thereby breaking a portion of the road material.

Difliculty has also been encountered in laying the dividing platesections and dowel bars. Most roads inr'the present day are made bymoving a road'material machine 'over the sub-surface to discharge roadmaterial behindthe machine as it moves forward, such road material beingspread out to form the road. Such road material. ma-

-'chines are ofgreat size and weight, and conse-.

quently the sub-surface must be'lear of impediments, such as dowel bars,when the road material machine moves thereover.

In the known constructions of the dividing plates and dowel bars itisnecessary to emplace the plate sections and dowel bars at the same timeas the dowel bars pass through small holes in the plate sections and itwould be extremely diiiicult to thread the bars through the platesections if the plate sections had first been emplaced. Consequently, ithas been necessary to first move the road material machine over andbeyond the portion of the sub-surface t9 which road material is to bedelivered and then emplace the .dividing plate and dowel barspreparatory to the actual discharge of road material from the machine.

This is extremely wasteful of time as the machine must necessarily standidle while the dividing plate sections and dowel bars are being emplacedbehind it and before the road material can be discharged from themachine.

The above and other defects in present day road construction practiceare overcome according to my invention whereby Iprovide for eliminatingthe disadvantages arising by reason of the protruding half of the dowelbar while the first half of a road is being formed, and also the delayoccasioned by the necessity of having the road material machine standidle while the dividing plate sectionsare emplaced and before the roadmaterial can be delivered.

when roads are built in halves as above described, there is little or noneed for vertically extending portions of the dividing plate as onehalfof the road hardens before the other half is but they do not become sointimately connected.

astobeineifectonelargeintegralmassand hence are not subject to seriouscracking. It is, however, desirable to provide both the "tongue andgroove" construction for preventing the opposite halves of the road frommoving vertically with respect to each other and the dowel bars forpreventing relative horizontal movement of the two halves of the road.

I provide a dividing plate having two legs only, both of such legsextending at an angle to the vertical,'the legs being angularly disposedwith respect to each other, and road material lying against the plate onboth sides, whereby to form in the road a tongue and-groove between theportions on opposite sides of the plate. By this provision the tongueand groove" construction is provided for, a ready means isprovided fordisposing of the protruding portion of the dowel bar during formation ofthe first half of the road, and the expense incident to provision of thedividing plate issubstan'tially cut in half. 5

y I further provide a dividing plate having in its end a'dowel bar slotextending from the end surface substantially longitudinally of theplate, whereby a dowel bar may be moved transversely of its axis intoengagement with the plate. I still further provide in a method of roadconstruction the steps comprising first emplacing sections of dividingplate along a sub-surface, then moving a road material machine alongsuch sub-surface, then emplacing dowel bars behindthe machine and thendischarging road material from the machine. These provisions eliminatethe waste of time occasioned by the necessity of scription of a presentpreferred embodimentthereof proceeds.

' In the accompanying drawings I have shown a present preferredembodiment of the invention Figure 1 isa perspective, phantom view of aportion of a road in the process of construction;

Figure v2 isa cross section through a dividing plate and supportingchair;

Figure 8 isa top view of a dividing plate supportedby chairs? I Figure41s an'elevation of the dividing plate and chairs showninfFigure 3; and

Figure 5. is a cross section through one half of a road construction.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral 2designates generally a road sub-surface upon which a road is to beconstructed. The sub-surface 2 is graded and smoothed in the usualmanner preparatory to-emplacement of the road form for confining theroad material, the dividing platesection'sfand the dowel bars.Disposed'along the-sub-surface is a road form 3 whichhasa verticallyextending wall 4 against which on one side the road material is adaptedto be formed. The road form 3 is divided into sections whichare placedend to end longitudinally of the road so that the wall 4 liessubstantially at the center line of the road to be constructed. .Thehalf of the road to thelefthand side. of" the road form 4, viewingFigure 5, is the first half to be formed. After this half of therighthandhalf is formed, using the edge of the left hand half as a formfor the road material of the second half.

I provide a dividing plate made up of sections 5. Each section is of asuitable length and, as

shown in Figure 2, comprises two legs only, such legs being angularlydisposed with respect to each other. An elongated dowel bar slot 6 isformed in the end of each plate section, such slot extending from'theend surface substantially longitudinally of the plate, whereby a dowelbar may be brought into co-operative relationship with the plate bymovement transversely of the axis of the dowel bar and substantiallylongitudinally of the plate section. The dowel bar slot 6 is providedwith an enlarged inner'extremity 7 adapted to retain the dowel bar andprevent it from slipping out during formation of the road.

The plate sections 5 are adapted to be emplaced with both of their legs'extending at an angle to the vertical as shown in Figure 2. Such platesections are emplaced flush against the wall 4 of the form 3 as shown inFigure 5 and are maintained in position by chairs 8. Each chair 8comprises an angularly extending portion 9 adapted to lie-along one ofthe legs of the dividing plate to support it in the desired position.The dividing plate is shown in Figure 4 as being welded to the chairs 8as at 10, although the plate sections may be connected with the chairsin any other suitable manner. It is, however, desirable to weld theplate and chairs together as they may be sold as an assembly ready foremplacement.

Each chair 8 also comprises an upstanding leg 11 and a downwardlyangularly extending leg 12 provided'with a horizontal foot 13 having adowel pin hole 14. Each plate section is emplaced by positioning it,together with its supporting chairs, against the road form and thenpressing down the plate and chairs so that the leg 11 of each chair willsink into the sub-surface 2 for a short distance, as shown at 15 inFigure 2. A dowel pin 16 (Figure 5) passes through the hole 14 in thechair, thus firmly maintaining the dividing plate in place.

a A triangular opening 17 is provided by the channel of the dividingplate between the plate and the wall 4 of the road form. The platesections-are preferably spaced apart longitudinally of the sub-surfacewhereby to permit insertion of the dowel bars into the slots 6. Dowelbars 18- are provided which are bent at right .20 adapted to lie alongthe sub-surface and to be held in place thereagainst by a U-shaped spike21.

In constructing a road the road form 3 is first laid so that its wall 4lies substantially along the proposed center line. The dividing platesections 5 and their supporting chairs are then emplaced against theroad form as explained. The road form and sections of the dividing platemay be set in place a substantial distance ahead of the road materialmachine as they are to one side of the path to be traveled by themachine and henceare not in the way. As above-mentioned, the platesections are preferably spaced apart at least far enough to permit ofinsertion of the dowel bars into the slots 6.

After the road form and plate sections have been emplaced the roadmaterial machine is moved over a portion of the sub-surface and thendowel bars are quickly emplaced in such portion of the sub-surface bymoving them into the slots 6. As above-mentioned, the bars are firstbent substantially at right angles. One leg of each bar is inserted intothe triangular opening 17 provided between the plate and the form andthe other leg extends transversely of the first half of the road to beconstructed. The time from the 'machine'and such material is spreadoutover the sub-surface around the dowel bars and against the platesections and road form to form the road. The machine is then movedforward again, more dowel bars are emplaced and the operation isrepeated.

According tothe method above described, the plate sections may beemplaced any desired distance ahead of the machine. This'may be done attimes when the machine is in operation or when it is convenient becauselaborers may "be used for the purpose who are not for the ,momentemployed elsewhere. The emplacing' of the plate sections is notdependent on the mward movement of the road material machine.

After the road material is formed in the-"first half of the road, andsuch material has hardened, the form 3 is removed. This permits bendingout of the half of the dowel bar lying in the channel of the platesection whereby to form the second half oi the road with'the'dowel barextending across the center line. Due tothe fact that the second leg ofthe dowel bar lies in the channel of the dividing plate; it is notnecessary to break away any of the road material in straightening itout, and hence'no damage is done to the first halt of the road to beformed.

The second half of the road is formed against the edge of the firsthalf, such edge serving as a permanent 'road form. However, due to thefact that theflrst half of the road has hardened a considerable" timebefore the second half is formed, and also due to the fact that thedividing plate remains in place between the two halves, there will notbe such a bonding in the center line as will result in cracking due toan enlarged integral mass of road material.

Thus, as above pointed out, there is no necessity for the provision ofvertically extending legs on the dividing plate as has heretofore beencustomary for the purpose of dividing the road into two halves. Suchvertically extending legs are of advantage when the entire road ispoured at one time, but their usefulness ceases in roads constructed byhalves. Therefore, I provide to' eliminate considerable expense incidentto the provision of the dividing plate as its weight is cutsubstantially in half and its cost is reduced accordingly.

entirely removed and used again along with the road form at anotherportion of the road. The purpose of the dividing plate is substantiallyserved in providing for the -tongue and I groove construction and forthe, shielding of the bent leg of the dowel bar from the road material.If it is desired to remove the dividing plate it may, instead of beingsupported on the chairs, be supported from the road form. The

slot 6 in the end of each plate section facilitates removal fromthedowel bar.

While I have shown and described a present preferred embodiment of theinvention, it is to be distinctly understood that the same is notlimited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied andpracticedwithin'the scope of the plane through the extremities of both"legs and parallel to the axis of the plate, androad material lyingagainst the plate on both sides.

, "2. In a road construction, a dividing plate hav ing "tw'o' angularlydisposed legs both of which extend at an angle'to the vertical, 9. dowelbar 1 adapted to have a portion lyingagainst the plate and between saidlegs, and means for supporting the plate againsta road formduringformation of the road to protect said portion of the dowel bar from roadmaterial lying against the opposite side of the plate.

3. A road construction comprising a dividing plate having two legs only,both of such legs extending at an angle to the vertical, the legs beingangularly disposed with respect to each other, a dowel bar passingthrough and bent against the plate, and road material against the plateand about the dowel bar.

4. In a road construction, a dividing plate having two legs, the legsbeing angularly disposed with respect to each other, and a dowel barslot in the end of the plate whereby a dowel bar may be movedtransversely of its axis into engagement with the plate.

5. In a road construction, a dividing plate having in its end a dowelbar slot extending from the end surface'substantially longitudinally ofthe plate, such slot having an enlargement at its inner extremity.

6. In a road construction, a dividing plate having two legs angularlydisposed with respect to each other, the plate having a dowel bar slotin its end, such slot being at the juncture of the two angularlydisposed legs and extending from the end surface substantiallylongitudinally of the plate.

7. In a road construction, a dividing plate having in its end a dowelbar slot extending from the end surface of the plate substantiallylongitudinally thereof, and chairs supported on the road sub-surface forindependently supporting the plate clear of the sub-surface.

8. A method of constructing roads and the like,

comprising emplacing along a sub-surface a dividing plate having twolegs only extending at an angle to each other, positioning a dowel barwith a portion protected by said plate, and delivering road material tothe sub-surface.

9. Road construction, comprising a dividing plate made of a length ofmaterial having lateral extremities extending generally in the samelateral direction and spaced apart so as to provide between them alongitudinal opening, and supporting devices each having a portionunderlying a portion of the dividing plate.

10. The method of making concrete roads containing slabs havinginterlocking engagement at their edges, which comprises forming one slabwith an irregular edge by the use of a dividing plate separate from theroad form, and with dowels partially imbeddcd therein, removing the endportion of said dowel bar and against said dividing plate.

12. A road construction comprising a sub-sunface, a road form, adividing plate separate from the road form, supporting means forsuch'plate adapted to support the same over the sub-surface whileleaving one side of the plate unobstructed to permit it to lie againstthe road form, the dividing plate leaving a substantial portion of theroad form exposed below the dividing plate, and road material over thesub-surface and against the dividing plate.

13. Road construction, comprising a dividing plate having two legs onlyextending at an angle to each other, a dowel bar having a portion Lyinglongitudinally along the plate, and road material against the plateopposite said portion of the dowel bar.

14. A road construction comprising a sub-surface, a dividlngplate,supporting means for such plate adapted to support the same over thesubsurface while leaving one side of the p'ate unobstructed to permit'ittolie against a road form positioned over the' sub surface, saidsupporting means supporting the dividing plate independently of the roadform, and road material over the sub-surface and against the dividingplate.

15. Road construction, comprising a dividing plate made of a length ofmaterial shaped to provide a longitudinal opening and having lateralextremities extending 'generally'in the same lateral direction, saiddividing plate being adapted to be positioned with the ends of saidlateral extremities against a road form,.said dividing plate having adowel bar opening therein extending transversely of and Joining W saidlongitudinal opening, and means for supporting the dividing plate.

16. A road construction comprising a subsurface, a road form, a dividingplate separate from the road form, said dividing plate being made of alength of material shaped to provide a longitudinal opening and havinglateral extremities extending generally in the same lateral direction,supporting means for the dividing plate adapted to support the same overthe sub-surface while leaving one side of the plate unobstructed topermit the ends of the lateral extremities thereof to lieagainst theroad form,

and road material over the sub-surface and against the dividing plate.

17. A dividing plate for road construction, comprising an elongatedmember shaped to provide a longitudinally extending opening adjacent aroad form when said member is emplaced against such road form, saidmember having a transverse opening therein communicating with saidlongitudinally extending opening, said transverse opening being soconstructed and arranged as to provide for insertion therethrough fromthe side of the plate opposite said longitudinally extending openingafter emplacement of the plate against a road form of a portion of adowel bar to lie along the plate in said longitudinally extendingopening.

18. A dividing plate for road construction, comprising an elongatedmember shaped to provide a longitudinally extending opening adjacent aroad form when said member is emplaced against such road form, saidmember having a transverse opening therein communicating with saidlongitudinally extending opening, said transverse opening beingelongated generally in the direction of the length of the dividing plateand being adapted for insertion therethrough from the side of the plateopposite said longitudinally extending opening after emplacement of theplate against a road form of a portion of a dowel bar to lie along theplate in said longitudinally extending opening.

19. A dividing plate for road construction, comprising an elongatedmember shaped to provide a longitudina'ly extending opening adjacent aroad form when said member is emplaced against such road form, saidmember having a transverse opening therein extending from an end thereofand communicating with said longitudinally extending opening, saidtransverse opening being elongated generally in the direction of thelength of the dividingplate. and being adapted for insertiontherethrough from the side of the plate opposite said longitudinallyextending opening after emplacement of the plate against a road form ofa portion of a dowel bar to lie along the plate in said longitudinallyextending opening.

cnanms a, nun

